


Kiss from a Rose

by Star_Gazing_Knight



Series: Lancelot Week 2017 [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Altean Disease, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Hanahaki Disease, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Juniberry Flower, Lancelot Week, Lancelot Week 2017, M/M, No Main Cast Character Death, Original Character Death(s), Space Sickness, Trapped In Elevator, Voltron Show
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-20
Updated: 2017-11-20
Packaged: 2019-02-04 19:58:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12778383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Star_Gazing_Knight/pseuds/Star_Gazing_Knight
Summary: After witnessing a Druid suffering from Hanahaki, Lotor vowed from a young age to never fall in love, or, to never fall in love first.  Unfortunately, life doesn't always listen to personal vows, and perhaps, if Lotor had been more careful, he could have avoided this situation all together.Instead, he'd allowed himself to get caught up in his denials, and now he was forced to face the truth through the very physical proof of his affection in the form of the Juniberry petals that he was coughing up.Lotor was prepared to die, having come to terms with his unlikely survival of the disease.  It was fortunate for him that Team Voltron disagreed.





	Kiss from a Rose

**Author's Note:**

> Day 2 of Lancelot Week: Hate/Love. 
> 
> While the Title is "Kiss from a Rose", the flowers featured for the Hanahaki Disease are actually Juniberry Blossoms.

Lotor should have realized that something was wrong long before now. 

He should have noticed when Lance laughed at a joke Hunk told him and Lotor felt his stomach drop at how unfairly beautiful the Blue Paladin was when he laughed so freely.   Or when his throat felt like it was tightening with each smile or accidental touch Lance gave him.  Or with how dry his mouth would get whenever he walked in on Lance practicing his ‘aerial silks’. 

There were countless warnings that Lotor had ignored.  Little hints and clues that had Lotor been paying attention to, would have spelled out ‘DANGER’ in all capital letters with flashing red lights. 

Alas, Lotor hadn’t been paying attention, too lost in the deep blue of Lance’s eyes, the rich color of his skin, the tones of his laughter, and everything that was Lance. 

Perhaps that, in and of itself, was a warning all on its own. 

Perhaps if Lotor had been more careful, he could have recognized the symptoms.  Perhaps, if Lotor hadn’t spent so much time with Lance, admiring his skills with the ‘aerial silks’ or shooting.  Perhaps, if Lotor hadn’t been so caught up in the curve of Lance’s smile, and the echoes of his laughter… then maybe Lotor would have realized.

But Lotor wasn’t more careful, and he wasn’t paying attention until Lance smiled at him as he bid him a goodnight and the tightness in Lotor’s throat grew intolerable as he entered his room and coughed up a single pinkish purple petal.

He stared down at the petal for at least five ticks before he curled his fist, crushing it.  His heart was racing as he considered the implications of what the very existence of the petal meant. 

Of all the ways for him to die, the last way he’d anticipated was from _this…_ This disease which he’d gotten from his mother, although parasite may have worked as well.  After all, there was a Juniberry flower growing inside of him, feeding off his unrequited love.

He could try to deny his feelings for Lance as much as he wanted, but there was no arguing with the undeniable physical proof in his hand.  And there was no chance that it could have been anyone else but Lance. 

His relationships with the Paladins was strained at best.  The Champion did not trust him, nor should he.  The _Princess_ was as untrusting as the Champion, if not more.  The tiny green one never spent long amounts of time with him.  Hunk offered food and company some of the time. 

And Keith… Well, he couldn’t think of an encounter with the former Red Paladin that hadn’t ended in either an altercation or Lotor grinding his teeth in frustration. 

And no, that had absolutely nothing to do with how _excited_ Lance would get anytime Keith returned to the ship, or how Lance would rush to Keith’s arms and envelope him in a hug.  He was _not_ jealous of the former Red Paladin. 

There was nothing to be jealous of.  It wasn’t like Lance was dropping Lotor like he was hot to go see _Keith_ , or anything.  And it wasn’t like Lance had stood Lotor up a few times because _Keith_ was back, and _“Well, you understand, right Lotor?  I haven’t seen him in a while.”_ With that damned ‘puppy dog’ pout that Lance would give him as apology. 

Lotor coughed up another petal and stared down at it. 

Okay, so maybe he was a little jealous of Keith.  Just a tad.  A tiny bit.  Just a smidge.

But how could he not be when Lance looked so happy anytime Keith visited.  Far happier than what Lotor could make him.  Which was ridiculous because he was a Prince of the Empire…. And also wanted dead by the same Empire, but semantics.

He sighed, crushing this petal the same way he had the first, before depositing their crumpled forms in the waste shoot. 

There wasn’t much that he could do for his situation.  In his youth, after he’d first seen this disease and learned about it, he’d vowed to never fall to it.  He vowed to never fall in love, and if he did, and he caught this stupid disease, then he’d take care of it by whatever means necessary.

He didn’t have those options here.  First and foremost, he was unable to turn to the Empire for assistance.  There were cures there, among the Druids, but to ask for such would be a death sentence.  He could try to denounce his love for Lance, but… he’d been denying it all this time and that had done nothing to stop this. 

Besides, just the thought of how sad Lance would get should Lotor start ignoring him tore at his heart. 

He had a contingency plan just in case the Druids were unable to help him, but just the thought of raising his sword to Lance made his stomach twist and bile rise to the back of his mouth. 

No. 

That option would kill both him and Lance.  He would never be able to live with himself if he killed Lance.  Besides which, he was sure that the other Paladins would have no qualms with avenging their fallen teammate. 

He could tell Lance, but… that would not be fair to Lance.  If there was anything that Lotor had learned about Lance, it was that he was selfless, and more than a little willing to sacrifice himself for others.  After all, it’d been Lance who had first approached Lotor at the expense of separating himself from the others. 

_“You look a bit lonely.  Mind if I chill with you?”_

Lance would feel obligated to love him back.  He would pity Lotor, and feel pressured to return his affections in an attempt to ‘save’ him.  Lotor didn’t want that. And worse yet, when Lance inevitably failed, then he’d only blame himself for what would happen. 

Telling Lance was the absolute last thing Lotor would ever do, if he ever did it at all.  It would be a crime to put such a burden on Lance. 

He might as well as just slay Lance with his sword at that point.  That death would be far more merciful and quick than the slow grueling death from the guilt he could already see Lance harboring. 

Lotor could try to reach out to _princess_ Allura, but he cared for her as much as she did for him.  Besides, he doubted she, or her adviser, would have any remedies that would assist him.

No.  The only options for Lotor were a slow and painful death that he would accept willingly and quietly, to return to the Druids, to kill Lance, or to somehow make Lance return his feelings.  So… Lotor had no options. 

As much as it pained him to admit this, he would accept his fate.  No matter how painful it would be.  And he knew it would be painful.

When he was a young boy, his teacher, a Druid by the name of Drayl, contracted this disease.  He’d witnessed this disease in its final forms, when Drayl coughed up fully formed flowers.

At the time, he’d been amazed and awed at Drayl’s ability to ‘create’ flowers. 

“What are those?”  He’d asked, as innocently as a child raised by the military might and Druids could. 

“Juniberry flowers.”  She replied.

Lotor could still recall how fondly she’d looked down at the flowers, smiling wistfully as she petted the petals. 

“How do you make them?” 

“With love.” 

What Drayl didn’t tell him that day was that it was a specific kind of love that created the flowers.  A dangerous kind.  The kind that made someone look death in the eye and agree to go quietly because the alternative was just too horrible to even imagine.

After she passed from the disease, Lotor had sworn off love and vowed to never follow in her footsteps.  Yet here he was, making the same choices that she had so long ago.

It was a shame.  There were so many plans that he had.  So much to do, so much to prove.  But unless he left the Voltron team right now, then there was little to no hope for him.  Things weren’t in place yet.  He was woefully unprepared for the first time in a long while.

~

“So, omg, fucking Shiro. I swear, if he keeps riding my ass, Ima choke somebody. I swear.”  Lance dramatically rolled his eyes, throwing his hands up.

Lotor hummed noncommittedly as Lance narrowly missed smacking him in the face.  The only reason he hadn’t was because Lotor had leaned back to avoid being hit.  If he wanted, he could avoid the problem completely by moving a little bit away or leaning against a fixture away from where Lance was.  But, there was something about how expressive Lance was that Lotor liked. 

Perhaps he’d even go as far as to say that he admired it about Lance. 

And, somehow, despite how annoying it was to dodge Lance’s hands, it was endearing to see him worked up like this.  He cute when he was mad.

As if triggered by his thoughts, that damned scratchy-ness returned to his throat.  He cleared his throat hoping for it to just go away without making a scene.  For a movement now, he’d been suffering silently with this disease, trying to keep it from Lance as best he could.

In its earliest stages, he had that option. 

However, once it progressed to the later stages, then it would only get worse and more difficult to hide.  He’d enjoy the time he had with Lance now, even it if was being an impartial ‘third party’ – although he’d always take Lance’s side. 

Lance side eyed Lotor, pausing in his rant long enough to see if Lotor had something to say before returning to his complaining. “It’s like he doesn’t think I’m taking this seriously, but I am, I swear.  Ugh.  And he’s always playing favorites.  If it’s not Keith than its Pidge, and if it’s not Pidge, then it’s Keith.” 

“Keith does seem to be a favorite around here.”  Lotor commented.

Lotor suspected that Keith was certainly Lance’s favorite considering how he’d attach himself to him the moment the former red paladin walked through the door.  Which he still wasn’t jealous over at all. 

…

“I don’t see why!”  Lance muttered, crossing his arms and ducking his head. 

Quiznak.  Lance pouting was more adorable than him being annoyed or irritated.  It wasn’t fair how much of an effect Lance had on Lotor. 

Lotor cleared his throat again.  Lance looked up quirking an eyebrow as he tilted his head.  “You doin’ alright man?”

“I’m as fine as I can be.”  Considering he was essentially a prisoner by choice in his enemy’s castle after all his plans failed and he was a betrayed by essentially everyone he trusted, and to top it all off, he was in love with one of said enemies, which was slowly killing him.  Oh, and there was also the incredibly unpleasant sensation of flowers getting stuck in his throat and coughing them up.   

To quote Lance, he was just peachy-keen.  Perfectly fine.  Fabulously wonderful. 

… Lance’s sarcasm was rubbing off on him.  He should probably keep that in check, lest the Paladins start to believe such ridiculous notions such as them being an ‘influence’ on him. 

Lance’s eyebrows knit together downwards, and he studied Lotor for a moment before shrugging.  “If you say so.  But you’d tell me if things weren’t okay, right?” 

“Of course.”  Lotor lied, because he’d already gone through every conceivable scenario that he could think of occurring should he tell Lance about the disease, and just… no.  It wasn’t gonna happen.  Not if Lotor could help it.

He was going to keep this from Lance if it killed him, which, it probably would.  Lotor cleared this throat again, but the tight scratchy feeling persisted. 

Lance’s tablet beeped, and based on how his face lit up when he pulled it out, Lotor could only guess what he’d read.  Lance turned to him, his eyes practically glowing.  Lotor’s throat tightened, and for a single tick, he wished Lance would share such excitement at the thought of him.   

“Keith’s back again!”  Lance grinned, bouncing off the half wall to stand.  “I…”  He paused, rocking on his heels as he looked to Lotor.  Indecision was clear in his eyes, and Lotor knew exactly what was it was about. 

“Go see him.”  Lotor was proud of how normal he kept his voice despite the increasing scratchy tightness in his throat, which threatened to force him into a coughing fit in front of Lance. 

Lance’s eyes lit up again, this time with happiness from Lotor’s words.  A sort of fuzzy warmth settled in Lotor’s chest at the sight, and he couldn’t help but to smile.  “Thank you~!”  Lance sung as he spun around. 

He was gone before Lotor could even blink.  Probably for the better.  For as much as Lotor didn’t care for Keith, at least his timing was impeccably fortunate for Lotor.  Now that Lance was gone, Lotor breathed out heavily. 

Instantly the breath turned into a cough, strong enough to force him to double over as he coughed into his hands.  Petals that had been stuck to his throat stuck to his hands in wet clumps, and he felt his lip curl and his nose scrunch up.

Disgusting.

How completely and utterly disgusting.  Revolting.  Yet, at the same time… the flowers and their petals were oddly pretty.  Some part of Lotor felt attached to the flowers he was producing.  After all, they were a physical representation of his love, and how could he hate that? 

Even if it was going to inevitably kill him.

“Dude, that looked as gross as it sounded.  Do Galra get hairballs?  Should I tell Keith to look out for that now that he’s a Galra?” 

It wasn’t often that Lotor could say that someone had surprised him or gotten the ‘jump on him’, but the Yellow Paladin had managed it.  Lotor jumped, letting the flower petals drift to the floor as he turned to look at a doorway were Hunk stood. 

Hunk stared at him. He stared at Hunk. 

Hunk’s gaze dipped down to the petals and then to Lotor’s hands, before finally going back to his face.  Lotor’s gaze didn’t move from Hunk’s face.  As such, Lotor saw the myriad of emotions that crossed the Yellow Paladin’s face before it settled into a neutral expression. 

“Right.  I’ll have to tell Keith about the retractable claws thing too, I guess.” 

Lotor bared his teeth, narrowing his eyes at Hunk. 

“But I kinda need to know if the flower thing is an ‘every Galra’ kinda-thing or a ‘you’ kinda-thing.  I don’t need Keith thinking he’s gonna die because he’s coughing up flower petals all of a sudden.”  Hunk paused, his eyes widen.  “Oh no, that’d suck.  Dying because of coughing up flowers.  Oh no!  Is Keith gonna die?  No, that wouldn’t make sense, unless you were dying, and of course you’re not dying.  You’d rather die than die, which doesn’t make sense, except it totally does.” 

Ah.  So the rambling wasn’t a Lance thing, but instead a human thing.  Although, if he was honest, he preferred Lance’s rambling to Hunk’s.  He hadn’t heard any of the other paladins ramble like this either, so maybe it was a Lance thing that had rubbed off on Hunk?  Or maybe it was a Hunk thing that rubbed off on Lance?

It was a tad hard to think about any of that, however, when everytime Hunk mentioned dying, Lotor had to resist the urge to wince.  Not that Hunk would have noticed, as he’d started to pace. 

Lotor blinked, and suddenly the Yellow Paladin was right in front of him. Somehow.  Lotor didn’t think he was that fast.  His hands shot out and clasped Lotor by his upper arms, squeezing him. 

“Tell me you aren’t dying!” Hunk wailed.  Lotor blinked again, leaning back and trying his hardest not to make a face.  Was….was Hunk actually crying? 

…

This was not okay. Lotor didn’t want, nor need, their pity like this.

“We’re all dying.”  Lotor replied, twisting out of Hunk’s hold and taking a few steps back and away. 

“Okay, but yeah, but… we aren’t all coughing up _flower_ _petals_!”  Hunk’s voice had evened back out in the beginning but by the time he reached ‘flower petals’ he’d returned to the slightly more hysterical tone.  “Flower.  Petals.” 

Did he think repeating those words would make their meaning change?  What was the purpose there?  Lance did something similar sometimes, except it was cute when Lance did it. 

Quiznak.  He’d thought too much about Lance.  He cleared his throat with the hope that it’d fix his problem for now.

“It’s a passing illness.  Nothing to worry about.”  Lotor replied.

“An _illness_?!”  Hunk exclaimed, his hands going to his face to press against his cheeks. 

…Well, that was clearly not the thing to say. 

“Why aren’t you at the medical bay?”  Hunk asked.  His eyes widened and he quickly moved back.  “Are you contagious?  I don’t want to catch the space flu and cough up flowers.  That’s just not cool!  I’m too young to die from the space flu, and I don’t-”

“I’m not contagious.”  Lotor cut him off, glaring down at Hunk. 

“…want to cough up space flowers, like that looked like it sucked, and I have a delicate palette when I’m sick, and I don’t think I can make mom’s soup out here in space.”

Lotor pursed his lips, crossing his arms as Hunk continued to freaked out.    

“And what if I die!?  What if the space flu is fatal to humans?”  Hunk paused, taking a deep breath. 

Lotor prided himself on his ability to sense when there was an open moment for an attack, and this was one such moment.  He seized the opportunity, reaching out to put his hands on the paladin’s shoulders. 

“Look at me.”  Lotor commanded.

Hunk sucked in a big shaky breath but did as he was commanded.

“I am not contagious.”  Lotor repeated.  “What I have is an Altean disease.  It will not affect you.”  Lotor assured him. Hunk nodded, and then froze, his eyes widening and starting to glisten and oh no.  Lotor had not signed up for this.  “No, I’m not contagious to Coran or Allura.”  Lotor added quickly.

“Whew.”  Hunk sighed, his shoulders slumping under Lotor’s hands.  “So, you’ll be fine, right?” 

“Of course.”  Lotor lied.  “It’ll pass quickly enough.”  He offered a tight smile, patted the paladin on the shoulder a few times before pulling away.  “I believe I heard Lance say that Keith had returned.”  Lotor informed him as he turned away.  “You should probably go see your friend.” 

~

Lotor groaned as someone knocked heavily on his door.  What did they want?  It couldn’t have been Lance.  His knocks were lighter, quieter… not this horrid banging.  Besides which, Lance knew better than to disturb someone’s beauty sleep.

Although, for Lance, Lotor would be okay with that…. and it wasn’t like he was sleeping anyways, but who ever was banging on his door didn’t know that.    

“What?”  He asked as the door slid open. “Do you want?” He added on a tick later. 

The yellow paladin frowned, crossing his arms and glaring up at Lotor.  “Hanahaki.”  He said simply.

Quiznak.  Lotor didn’t have the patience to deal with this.  Nor did he want it.  He didn’t want to ever hear that word again, let alone have one of the paladins find out that what it was and that he had it.     

“I don’t know what that is.”  Lotor lied. 

“Yes, you do.  It’s the disease you have.” 

Lotor sighed and rolled his eyes.  “And how do you know that?”  He asked, sounding annoyed and bored despite the distinct panic going on in his mind. 

 “I looked it up.” Hunk replied.  “I don’t like being lied to by the way.  And I know you lied because I distinctly recall asking you if you were going to die.  I mean, unless you have a cure or something that doesn’t involve you dying or, I don’t know, killing Lance.”

Hunk’s words hung in the empty hallway for a good dobosh, emphasized by the quiet staring contest between the two. 

Lotor cleared his throat.  “I’m sorry, but I believe I misheard you?”

“You heard me fine.”  Hunk replied.  “I mean, that’s who you love, isn’t it?  I mean, I thought it might have been Allura, but you don’t really spend much time with her, and I mean, Coran is a gorgeous man, but… he doesn’t seem your type.  We never see Keith, so I doubt it’s him, and I mean, Pidge is cute and all, but she’s married to her research and machines.  I think she might be ace anyways.  Which leaves Shiro or Lance, and despite how much Shiro is a fan favorite, he’s not loverboy Lance.” 

Lotor’s eye twitched as Hunk rambled on about why it couldn’t be anyone else but Lance. 

“And I mean, you spend a lot of time with him, and you started coughing after spending time with him.  I mean, I definitely saw Lance leave the room you were in before you started coughing, and it’s been a couple days, but I’ve been watching you guys, and yeah… I’m about 99.9% sure it’s Lance.”

“Which begs the question: do you have some sort of cure, or,” Hunk held up his inactive bayard, “are you gonna kill Lance?”  His voice going strangely serious as he finished the question.

Lotor was quiet before he reached forward and dragged Hunk into his room and locked the door.

“I have no cure,” Hunk’s suddenly active Bayard was trained on him not even a tick after he spoke.  “But I wasn’t going to kill Lance.” 

“You expect me to believe that you were just gonna die?”  Hunk’s eyes narrowed. 

“It’s not like I have many other choices.  You read about the disease.  You know my options.”  Lotor admitted quietly. 

It was embarrassing enough that he was in the Castle in the first place.  And now all this had to happen to rub insult into injury.  He never wanted any of the Paladins to learn of his feelings for Lance.  But, there was no changing what had already happened.

If nothing else, Lotor was adaptable. 

“I kill Lance, and it’d cure me, yes.”  Lotor ignored the weapon being powered up.  “But I would never be able to live with myself for killing him, and if you don’t believe that, then I have no doubt that you and your teammates would have no problem avenging Lance.” 

Hunk stared at Lotor for a full dobosh before powering down his weapon.  Lotor let out a mental sigh of relief.

“That I believe.” 

Good to know that the Paladins thought he was self-serving.  That was always the best impression to leave.  Even if it was mostly true.

“You could always… I don’t know, tell Lance.”  Hunk suggested.

“Absolutely not.”  Lotor’s reply was instantaneous.  At Hunk’s blank look, Lotor sighed.  “He’d blame himself.”  Lotor explained.  “It wouldn’t work because he’d force himself, and then he’d blame himself when it didn’t work.  I couldn’t burden him like that.” 

“Wow.”  Hunk muttered after a little bit.  “So… you’re going to just… die?” 

“I don’t want to.”  Dying was the furthest thing from Lotor’s agenda, but in this situation, he may not have any other choice.  No.  It wasn’t that he may not have another choice, it was that he didn’t have another choice.  His only option was death.  That was it.  “I have more important things to do than die from some parasitic ‘disease’.”

Except he was.  He was going to die from some parasitic flower from a long-gone planet.  Just his luck. 

Hunk was staring at Lotor, and it made him uncomfortable.  Lotor was used to having people’s attention on him as he’d often stand in the spotlight to distract people from his generals.  Yet something about Hunk’s stare was… unsettling. 

 “You really like him.”  Hunk muttered after a moment.

It took all of Lotor’s considerably large amount of willpower not to snap at the Yellow Paladin.  Like, _yes_ , Lotor really liked Lance.  As a matter of fact, he could feel the very physical undeniable proof of it climbing up his throat, threatening yet another coughing fit. 

“That’s it!”  Hunk declared after a moment.  “I’ll be your wingman!”

What in his mother’s name was a ‘wingman’?  And more importantly, what good would that do for Lotor? 

“The plant feeds off your unrequited love, right?  So, if we make your love requited, then you’ll be cured.” 

It… wasn’t that easy?  It fed off unrequited love.  Lance would have to _love_ Lotor in order to completely cure him.  Although, just getting Lance to like him would be enough for Lotor to at least increase his odds of living. 

Lotor stared at Hunk, trying to decide if he was being serious or not.  Hunk met his stare with a wide smile for a moment before the smile dropped. 

“But if you guys were to break up later or something… then would it come back?”

Okay.  Okay, so Hunk was being serious.  Hunk was seriously talking about trying to set him up with Lance.  Lotor’s stomach burst into more annoying little flutters at that thought, and he turned away to cough up the petals caught in his throat. 

To his measure, Hunk didn’t really react except to make a bit of a face that was quickly schooled away when Lotor looked back at him. 

“It shouldn’t, but it won’t matter. Lance is with… Keith.”  The moment the former Red Paladin’s name left Lotor’s lips, Hunk burst into laughter like Lotor had told him one of Lance’s jokes. 

“Keith?”  Hunk repeated between laughs.  “Really?  Aw man, that’s hilarious.” 

“So, Lance is not…”  Lotor half trailed off and was half interrupted by Hunk. 

“In a relationship?  No.  He’s single and free for the taking… which you will be doing.”  Lotor pointedly ignored the twisting fluttery feeling in his stomach and the scratchy sensation of petals in his throat at Hunk’s statement.  “If you’re cool with that?”  Hunk added after a moment.

Against better judgement, Lotor nodded. Hunk’s entire face lit up, and Lotor finally realized what Lance was talking about when he compared Hunk to sunshine.

“Great!  Then leave everything up to me!” 

Hunk’s words inspired more concern and fear than confidence, despite the sunlight he was radiating.     Lotor’s heart sunk as Hunk darted past him and exited the room.  This was not going to end well, he just knew it.

~

Lotor knew trusting Hunk was a horrible, horrible idea, and the disaster he walked in on proved that.

“He can’t Fake-Date Lance!”  The former Red Paladin screeched to the Champion.  Impressively, the Champion didn’t react beyond a twitch in his eyelid.  He crossed his arms and looked Keith down, pursing his lips together. 

Under this look, Keith positively shrank back.  He mirrored Shiro’s pose by crossing his arms, and looking away. 

“I’m not any happier about it than you are, Keith.  But Coran is right.  Fak- Dating would be the easiest way to introduce our alliance with Lotor to the Coalition.” 

It wasn’t hard to piece what had happened together.  Hunk was half hidden behind Coran, who looked like he’d been given a Yarg gift two phoebes sooner than expected. 

Lotor knew about ‘The Voltron Show’.  How could he not when he’d taken to watching Lance practice his ‘aerial silks’ for it?  So, he knew of ‘Loverboy Lance’ and his show ‘persona’, which wasn’t all that much different from how he was in everyday life. 

As soon as Lotor had heard the words ‘Fake-Date’ and ‘Coalition’ he’d been able to piece everything together. 

Despite the Champion saying that Coran was the one to blame for this, Lotor knew who the blame truly fell upon.  He glared at Hunk, who shrunk back a bit at the force of the look Lotor was giving him.  His disapproval sufficiently displayed, he prepared himself to agree with Keith. 

Except Lance spoke before he could.   

“You’re just _jealous_ , Keith.”  Lance sung out. 

Lotor’s mouth shut as he turned to look at the Blue Paladin.  Lance was leaning against Pidge’s chair, idly filing his nails and occasionally looking over her shoulder at whatever she was typing.  He grinned as he spoke to Keith, and Lotor hated it.

He hated how pretty Lance looked, with the light from the bridge and Pidge’s screens hitting his face just right, and his hair was a mess, which meant Lance had run his hand through it recently or been training – and Lotor would never admit it out loud, but watching Lance train with his weapons was one of the hottest things Lotor had ever seen.  And the twist of his mouth when he gave Keith that grin, and the way his eyes lit up.

Lotor turned his head, forcing himself to stop looking at Lance and coughed as quickly and quietly as he could into his hand.  He pocketed the petals that it resulted in, and hoped that no one had noticed before turning his attention to the argument between Lance and Keith. 

“I’m not jealous!”  Keith shot back immediately.  “I just don’t trust him.” 

Well, that was fair.  Lotor would give him that. 

“Sounds like you’re jealous.”  Lance said.  “Everyone wants a piece of me.” 

“Are you kidding?”  Keith asked with a laugh. 

If Lotor had still been turned away, then he would have missed it.  If he’d blinked at the wrong time, then he would have missed it.  Any number of variables could have happened and Lotor would have missed it. 

But he didn’t miss it. 

He didn’t miss that immediately following Keith’s words Lance flinched and the spark that Lotor admired so much in him dimmed briefly at the words and tone.  It was like looking through a crack in the wall and seeing something not meant for his eyes. 

It was like a puzzle piece falling into place, and Lotor felt his breath be caught in his throat for more reasons than just the stupid parasitic disease that was plaguing him. 

Irritation for Keith sprung back up anew, although for a different reason now than him just taking up Lance’s time and attention. 

How dare he hurt Lance in such a personal way?  Why would he do that to his own teammate?  Did no one else notice? 

“Lance.”  Shiro groaned. 

Well, that answered those questions.  No.  No one else noticed.  Lotor resisted the urge to murder them all and take Lance away.  All that would do would put him at odds with the Resistance _and_ the Empire.  It wouldn’t be an ideal situation for Lance or Lotor.

And despite doing it _for_ Lance, killing the Voltron team would only make Lance hate him.

“Aren’t you supposed to be helping Pidge look over Coran’s… script.”  Pidge snorted, and privately Lotor agreed.  She was more than capable of looking over Coran’s script.  Besides, Lance had more uses than… this. 

Lance rolled his eyes and huffed.  “Yeah, yeah.”  He looked back to the script before double taking and looking to Lotor in the doorway.  “Lotor!”  He called out, his smile still as bright and wide like Keith’s words hadn’t had an effect on him. 

Lotor wondered if Lance’s cheeks hurt from all the smiling that he did.  He also wondered how much of it was an act, given what he’d just witnessed. 

Lotor cleared his throat, and forced himself to ignore the feeling of the petals in his throat which hid in the back of his mouth just threatening a coughing fit.  He raised his hand in greeting.

“What do you think of the idea?”  Lance asked. 

Lotor cleared his throat again and attempted to speak.  “I must confess, I’m not aware of what you’re referring to.”  His voice was a bit rough, and it almost hurt to talk, caused by the insane need he was feeling to cough. 

Lance wilted briefly before he perked back up.  He inhaled deeply, presumably to explain what idea he was referring to. 

“You’ve left the Empire to join the Coalition due to your undying love for Lance, of course!”  Coran answered, spinning away from Hunk to dramatically enact his words.  “So, we’ll introduce you to the Coalition as Loverboy Lance’s boyfriend!” 

Lance deflated, crossing his arms and pouting at Coran.  “Awh, I wanted to tell him.” 

Lotor turned away and coughed, hiding the petals away before he turned back.  “What?”

Lance frowned, knitting his eyebrows.  “You got a problem with dating me?”  Lance asked, and oh no.  No, no, no.  No that wasn’t… he didn’t…

“Of course, he has a problem with it, Lance.”  Keith cut in.  But his words didn’t register for Lotor.  The only thing he registered was the change in Lance.  Why did Lance’s eyes look so shinny and was his lip wobbling, and… Oh no. 

“No!”  Lotor’s response was probably louder than needed as the bridge went completely quiet.  He cleared his throat and tried again.  “No.”  He repeated a bit quieter this time.  “It’s fine.  It’s the easiest way to introduce me to the Coalition.”

“Exactly!”  Coran grinned.  From behind him, Hunk also grinned and flashed Lotor a thumbs up. 

“Right.”  Lance repeated quietly.  “It’s the easiest way to introduce you.” 

Lotor didn’t understand.  He denied Lance’s question, so why was Lance still upset?  He could hear it in the quietness of Lance’s voice and the almost unnoticeable waiver in his tone.  Although his gaze was downcast, there was still a distinctly shiny sheen to his eyes. 

A large part of him wanted to ask what he’d done wrong, but he knew better than to bring it up right now.  Lance was a performer, like him, and Lotor knew that he wouldn’t appreciate someone bringing up a fault in his performance. 

There was no need to out Lance right now, with an audience of practically everyone in the ship, minus the princess, Slav, and Pidge’s brother. 

“Then it’s settled.” Pidge declared.  “Although Allura isn’t going to be happy playing Keith again.  Also, Coran, some of the lines between Lotor and Lance are gag worthy.  They’re fake-dating, not participating in a porno.”

Lance’s eyes went wide as he turned his attention back to the screen, and, oh, that was an interesting shade of red that Lance was turning.  He sputtered for a few moments before throwing his hand out to the screen and looking at Coran. 

“I can’t say this stuff!”  Lance mimicked Keith’s screech from earlier. 

Except unlike Keith, Lance was actually cute when he screeched.  Pidge had a different (wrong) opinion as she grimaced and leaned away from Lance, lifting her hand to rub at the ear closest to Lance. 

“See!  It won’t work out.”  Keith wasted no time in adding in his opinion.  “We shouldn’t do this.”

Shiro frowned, furrowing his eyebrows.  Lotor could see him working things over in his head, and apparently so did Lance.

“Nah, we just need to change the script around a little bit.  I mean, I would never use the line,” Lance leaned further over, narrowing his eyes as he read the line quietly to himself before straightening back out and winking at Lotor.  “ _‘If I had a star for every time you brightened my day, I’d have a galaxy in my hand’_.” 

Silence hung in the bridge at the words that Lance had spoken, only for them to be broken only a few ticks later by Shiro’s outburst of “Lance!”

The poor leader of the Paladins looked scandalized, and perhaps a bit traumatized. Which to be fair, was a completely understandable reaction to such a line. 

Shiro’s outburst was nearly immediately followed by Pidge’s laughter.  “It sounds so much worse when spoken!”  She cried between peals of laughter.  “That was so cringy.”

Keith’s nose scrunched up, and he looked just as disturbed as Shiro.  Hunk shifted behind Coran, and like the other’s he was making a face.  Coran, on the other hand, looked exceedingly proud of the horror he’d written.  

Lotor cleared his throat and looked pointedly away from Lance.  He could already feel his cheeks darkening at such a statement.  Oh, if only he could go back in time.  The things he’d tell himself.  Then again, he would never believe that someone would have the gall to say something like _that_ to him. 

“If you’re done.”  Lance huffed, presumably at Pidge as her laughter trailed off.  “A more accurate line, would be-”

“Lance.”  Shiro barked out, interrupting Lance, not that the Blue Paladin seemed to notice or care. 

“ _’Who took the stars out of the sky and put them in your eyes?’_ or _‘If a star fell every time I thought of you, the midnight sky would soon be empty,’_ or _‘I think you may be a star since I can’t stop orbiting around you’_.” 

Stars have mercy on him.  Fate have mercy on him.  By Willow and every other deity in the universe… have mercy on him.  Lotor was going to die, right here, right now on this Bridge, choking on a thousand Juniberry Blossoms.

Such corny pick up lines should not work on him.  He was a Prince.  He had _class_.  But it was Lance saying them, and Lotor made the mistake of looking at Lance once he started speaking and… Well, Lotor already admitted that was a mistake. 

Just the words alone had petals practically crawling up his throat, but seeing Lance smile and wink and do that stupidly adorable finger gun thing while delivering them was just too much.  Clearing his throat was not going to cut this. 

He didn’t say a word as he spun around on his heel, and exited the room.

“Was it something I said?”  Lotor heard Lance ask as he retreated, and he fought the urge to turn back around and assure him that ‘no, it wasn’t.’ even though it most certainly was.  The only reason he didn’t was because he didn’t have the time. 

He barely managed to clear the doors before he started to gag from the petals, and by the time the door had completely closed, he was leaning against the wall, doubled over from the force of his coughs.

The doors slid back open, and Lotor had a brief respite from his torment to curse his luck before he was back to coughing.

“No, no, you stay there and rework the script, and Shiro, you really don’t need to come alo- oh.  Oh dear.  I was afraid of this.” 

“Are those…. flower petals?” 

Curse his luck.  Curse the fates.  Curse the stars.  Curse everything.  He’d rather fly into another sun than deal with all of this.  At least then his death would be mercifully quick. 

“Not now, Shiro.”  Coran answered.  There were hands suddenly on Lotor, holding back his hair as he coughed. “There, there.” Coran soothed before sighing.  “I didn’t think Hanahaki would still be around.” 

Lotor closed his eyes in quiet resignation.  Now the advisor and the Champion knew.  Which meant that everyone else would be sure to know soon enough.  He might as well as take his sword and stab himself in the heart now.  Or take a ship and fly into the sun.  That always resolved his problems before in the past.

The coughing came to a slow stop, and Lotor’s hands were shaking as petals fell out of them onto the floor.  He tried to pick them up, but Coran stopped him.  “Don’t worry about them.  I’ll take care of them later.  No one will know what they are here except for maybe Allura, and she’s resting.”

Coran gently pulled him away from the wall.  Lotor could have tried to fight it, but, at this point there was no use.  He sighed, and resigned himself to their assistance when the Champion moved to flank him.

Shiro was staring at him, not unlike how Haggar would stare at him.  His skin prickled at the comparison, so Lotor turned away to look at Coran.

“Do you know how far along you are?”  Coran asked. 

Lotor shook his head.  Beyond the size of the petals and the amount that he coughed up, he had no way to measure how far along he was.  He had no way of knowing how close to death’s door he was.  For all he knew, the flowers could burst through his lungs and leave him to suffocate in his love any day now, and the sad thing was…

He was okay with that. 

He had nothing left to him.  His generals had betrayed him.  His plans had fallen through.  Everything he’d ever worked for: gone.  Now, he was dying from a completely curable disease, except he couldn’t get the cure without dying.  And the one person who could save him would probably wouldn’t, and if they were to try, they’d only guarantee their failure.

The only thing he could do was try to enjoy the time he had left with Lance while he could. 

Coran sighed, but didn’t prompt him further. 

“You aren’t going to ask who it is?”  Lotor asked once Coran had him sitting down in the medical bay. 

The Champion stood off to the side, watching Lotor carefully.  Was he doing it out of concern, or out of a cautious fear of fowl-play.  The universe would probably never know. 

Lotor saw him open his mouth as if to speak and then shut it again, crossing his arms and leaning back against the wall to watch.  Lotor could relate. 

A smart man asks questions.  A wise man watches to see if the question will be answered for them. 

“I have an idea.”  Coran replied, doing something on the computer once Lotor had settled.  “I was a bit suspicious when Hunk came to me with the idea, but I dare say it’s been confirmed now.  I will say, I’m rather pleased you’ve decided not to kill Lance.” 

The Champion choked on air, and both Coran and Lotor turned their attention to him.  “You’re going to kill Lance?”

“Oh, don’t worry Number 1!”  Coran crowed cheerfully.  “I just said he wasn’t.”  He turned to Lotor and gave him a critical look.  “You aren’t, right?” 

“No. I…”  Lotor looked down at his hand, and imagined the bright red blood from Lance staining it, and nearly felt sick.  “No.” 

“Well, the good news is that you’re still in only the beginning stages, so if we get this cleared up, you probably won’t see any lingering side effects.” 

“And the bad news?” Shiro asked. 

“The bad news that if it’s not cured, then I’m going to have quite a bit of time suffering before I inevitably die.”   Lotor replied curtly. 

“So how do we cure it?”  Shiro asked.  Coran started to answer, but Lotor laughed. 

“It’s not so simple to cure as taking some pill or tincture.  I can’t just go into a healing pod for a night and wake up fresh and new.” 

“I’m afraid he’s right about that.”  Coran agreed, tugging at his mustache.  “The only cures are removing the plant, or reciprocated love.” 

Shiro’s hand met his face, and Lotor swore he muttered something about living in a ‘Star Trek Episode’, whatever that meant.  He dragged his hand down his face and turned to Lotor.  “Let me get this straight.  There’s a plant growing inside of you, and you can either remove it or have someone fall in love with you.” 

“Not just ‘someone’, Shiro.”  Coran corrected.  “The person who caused the plant’s growth in the first place!  Which in this case is Lance.” 

It seemed Shiro needed some time to process that information as he froze.  Then, after a tick, he seemed to finish processing.  “So, remove the plant.” He said. 

“Ancients! No!  A surgery like that takes more than just me.”  Coran shook his head.  “No.  I’m afraid the only way for Lotor here to be cured is through Lance returning Lotor’s affections... unless Lotor tries to kill his love, in which case, he’ll kill the plant, but he’ll probably die from Keith’s bayard or his own heartbreak.” 

“Hunk’s already threatened me.”  Lotor replied sourly.  He crossed his arms, mildly irritated at the conversation but unable, and unwilling, to do anything about it.  “I won’t kill Lance.”  He confirmed again, just because Shiro looked ready to freak out at Coran’s last bit.  “And I’ve already resigned myself to death.  This conversation is pointless.” 

Lotor stood, and pushed past the two.  He stopped outside the Bridge, but the flower petals that had been left there were gone, presumably cleaned up by some automated robot or, stars forbid, a Paladin. 

He sighed, and headed back to his room.  Maybe he could just… suffocate himself in his pillow. 

~

Shiro, Hunk, and Coran were going to be the first people Lotor killed if and when he ever cured himself of this parasitic disease and took over the universe.  He was sick and dying, but he did not need to be mothered like a baby kit.  He was not some fragile delicate flower, no matter what he coughed up. 

In any case, he most certainly did not appreciate the forced ‘dates’ that they were making Lance go on with him.

“Man, Shiro’s been acting really weird lately.”  Lance commented, tucking his hands into the pockets of the jacket he wore so often.  Come to think of it, beyond the Paladin armor and the Altean Sleepwear, this outfit was the only outfit that Lotor ever saw Lance wear. 

Why?  It wasn’t a uniform, like Lotor’s attire – not that he had a unit to wear a uniform with anymore. 

Not that Lotor was complaining.  Lance looked good in the outfit, although Lotor was sure Lance would look good in anything. 

Gold and blue would look fantastic with Lance.  Maybe some sheer too. 

…Quiznak, he shouldn’t have been thinking about that.  He could already feel the familiar tell-tale feeling of the flower’s petals crawling up his throat, ready to make him choke. 

“How so?”  Lotor asked, and he hoped Lance didn’t notice how strained Lotor’s voice was.  Hopefully the noise of the marketplace they were in would help cover that. 

“Well, I mean, I didn’t expect him to let us go roam free in a marketplace, ya know?”  Lance paused, and looked up at Lotor, giving him one of his gorgeous smiles.  “But I’m happy he assigned me to you.  Last time I had to stick with Keith, and man, that was a bummer.  He wouldn’t let me do anything.” 

“That’s rude.”  Lotor replied. 

“I know, right?”  Lance exclaimed.  “All I wanted was just to look at stuff, but he was all like ‘no’.  So rude, I tell ya.”

“I’ll let you look at anything you want.” 

Lance paused, rocking back on his heels. The grin that was growing on Lance’s face suddenly felt a lot less friendly and a lot more… scary.  “Anything?”  He asked.

This felt a lot like a test.  One that Lotor was sure he could pass, but was also sure that he would probably regret passing.  He nodded.  “Anything.”  He confirmed. 

“Anything at all?  Even… I don’t know,” Lance’s expression was somewhere caught between innocence and excitement, which promised to be a dangerous combo for Lotor.  He bit his bottom lip and worried it as he ‘though’ about what to use as an example.  “Sex toys?” 

Lotor was not prepared. 

He choked on a horrid mixture of his own spit, air, and those quiznaking petals.  Of all the things Lance could have said, Lotor hadn’t expected that.  In no universe did he expect that. 

His thought of Lance in gold and blue sheer rose to his mind again, except this time partnered with Lance’s request, and… quiznak, no. Lotor quickly banished the thought away.  He did _not_ need that right now.  Maybe later, when he was alone in the relative privacy of his room, and he could afford to think more on that.    

“Are you alright?  Omigod, I’m so sorry!  I didn’t think to ask if that was okay, I mean, it’s not always okay to talk about that stuff with humans, I mean, I just didn’t think about that, and, just… are you okay?  Please don’t die.  I don’t want to kill you.”

Oh, Lance was going to kill him alright. 

He was going to kill Lotor with every syllable that he spoke, with every breath that he took, and every bat of his eyelashes.  Quiznak, from the rambling, to Lance’s actual words, and his concern, and just… everything. 

“I’m fine.”  Lotor choked out, hiding the petals in his hand as he straightened out.  Lance’s gaze was on him, and… were his eyes watery?  Quiznak, they were.  He needed Lance to stop looking so pretty, really, he did, or he was going to have another fit.  “Really.  I’m fine.  If you want to see… sex toys, then we can go look.”

“That was just a joke.”  Lance said the words, but somehow Lotor doubted it.  Not that he wanted to go sex toy shopping with Lance, except, he kind of did?  Not to be a creep or anything, but just to see what sort of things Lance _liked_?  Which didn’t necessarily make him sound like any less a creep. 

But he couldn’t stop himself from wondering what all Lance was interested in.  Was Human anatomy compatible with Galra?  It must be since Keith was part Galra.  Which meant some Human procreated with a Galra, which meant that yes… he and Lance should be compatible…

And he needed to stop thinking about this right now.   These were bad thoughts. Bad, bad thoughts that Lotor did not need to have.

“We can go look at whatever you want, Lance.  I promise.”  Except Sex Toys.  Including Sex Toys.  Quiznak. 

Lance narrowed his eyes, and with a sniffle turned back on his heel.  “Then we’re going clothes shopping, and beauty care product shopping… and whatever else I want shopping.” 

Okay. 

Lotor could handle any of that better than he could sex toys.  He sighed in relief, and with Lance’s back turned to him, let the petals fall as they walked.  “Of course.  Whatever you want.” 

~

This was it.  Here laid Lotor, Former Prince of the Galra Empire, slain by love and parasitic love flowers. 

Lance spun around, wearing clothes that should have been illegal for him to wear.  Lotor took back every thought he’d ever had about clothes shopping being better than sex toys.  He’d rather take the sex toys over this. 

He was already caring two small bags of beauty products, and three larger bags of clothes… but every time Lance tried on an outfit, it was like that outfit was made specifically just for Lance.  At this point, Lotor was sure that someone could put Lance in the ugliest outfit ever – which they already had.  That Paladin armor was hideous – and Lance would still look like the most gorgeous thing Lotor had ever seen. 

It just wasn’t fair.  Lance was pretty, strategic, funny, and caring.  Ezor would have called him the full package.  Acxa would have forced them on at least two dates by now.  Zethrid would have shoved him and Lance into a closet… and Narti...

Narti probably would have possessed Lance and made him kiss Lotor and then dropped the possession midway through.  She was funny like that, sometimes.  Or at least, she used to be. 

But, it was hard to dwell on the past when Lance was modeling off yet another outfit.  “I’d ask you what you think, but you’d probably say what you’ve been saying.”  Lance cast a glare in Lotor’s direction as he spoke. 

Lotor shrugged.  “I can’t help that you make everything look beautiful.”  Lance froze.  Lotor froze.  They both froze, staring at each other. 

Lance moved first, his face cracking as a giant grin overtook his features.  “You think I’m beautiful?”  Lance teased. 

Well, he’d already said it.  No take backs now.  “Yes.” 

Lance froze again, like a broken sentry or machine.  For a split tick, Lotor thought he’d broken Lance, but before he could blink Lance was back, laughing as he shook his head.  “Sure, sure.” 

Lotor was reminded of the incident on the Bridge of the ship.  Where Keith’s words had produced a similar fracture in Lance’s performance. 

Once again, Lotor was struck with the urge to say or do something, but they were in a public place. 

Lance wouldn’t appreciate him bringing it up now, but… everything was wrong now.  That laugh didn’t sound right. 

And Lotor would know Lance’s laugh anywhere.  He was dreaming of Lance’s laughter.  He heard it all the time in the back of his mind like a song he couldn’t forget.  No, the way Lance had laughed was definitely wrong. 

He knew Lance was a good actor.  He’d seen this with how Lance sometimes interacted with his own team.  But, so far, Lance hadn’t really acted with Lotor.  So why was he now?  What had triggered it?  The only thing he could think of was… Oh no.  No, Lotor was not okay with this. 

Lance turned, presumably to escape through changing his clothes, but Lotor surged forward, grabbing him by the forearm.  Lance jerked back, squeaking as he looked up at Lotor.  His eyes were wide, sparkling in the light of the store and with barely unshed tears. 

“You _are_ beautiful, Lance.”  Lotor asserted.  “And if anyone has told you otherwise, then they’re a fool.” 

Lance’s eyes were wide, his mouth had dropped open just the slightest bit at Lotor’s words.  For less than a tick, Lotor debated kissing him, but ultimately, refrained.  Lance didn’t like him that way, and he wouldn’t force himself on Lance. 

“I…” 

“You’re beautiful.”  Lotor repeated. 

“Allura’s beautiful.”  Lance countered.  “And Shiro, and…” 

“You.  You’re beautiful, and I will tell you that every quintant until you believe me if I have to.  I refuse to let you go on believing anything less.”

Lance’s eyes watered, and Lotor thought that he was going to cry.  Which honestly, Lotor would have taken better than what he did do.  His arms were suddenly full of Lance as he pressed his face into Lotor’s chest in what he believed the humans called a ‘hug’. 

Lotor ignored the flowers crawling up his throat as he wrapped his arms around Lance and returned the gesture. 

~

“Sooo…. If this doesn’t work, we’re locking them into a closet, right?”

“We can’t do that!”

“The hell I can’t.  If I have to deal with them dancing around each other and being all ‘the other one doesn’t like me’ for another day, I’m gonna be sick.  Like, it’s already bad enough that Loturd will evidently die if they don’t get together.  I mean, what the hell?  Are we living in a fanfiction?”

“I was thinking a Star Trek Episode.”

“Hmm, yeah.  I could see that.  It does fit with the whole killing love plant nonsense narrative.” 

“Guys!  This is people’s lives we’re messing with here!”

“Chill, I got this… I just need to work some magic on the elevator, it’s no big deal.” 

“This is a bad idea.”

“Says the one who suggested ‘Fake Dating’.  Seriously, Hunk?  What was _that_ suggestion?  Did you want to ruin everything?  Don’t you know, fake dating always gets worse before it gets better?” 

“… At least I was trying something better than… this… or the mission dates.” 

“I thought it’d work!  They hugged at least.”

“And what about the multitude of other dates you’ve sent them on?”

“…”

“Exactly!  They’re both dense idiots and the only way to make them get together is to shove them together, mark my words.  _This_ is a fool proof plan, guaranteed to work!”

“Fine.  But Just to be safe, you’re certain that this won’t cause any damage and that you’ll be able to reset any changes you make?”

“Of course.  You dare doubt me and my skills?  HA! I’ma master of… oh quiznak.” 

“Quiznak?  Pidge, why did you say quiznak?  Pidge?  Pidge?!” 

“Uh, Shiro… remember what you were saying about damage and resetting anything I do?”

“…yes.” 

“Well…. I uh, I may have broken the elevator.” 

“…”

“…”

“…”

“We’re gonna die.”

“It’s for a good cause?”

“I’m sure Allura won’t be too upset if we explain.”

“Never mind Allura.  Lance is going to kill us!  Or Lotor!  OR BOTH!”

~

Lotor frowned as the Elevator came to a sudden starling halt, the force of which knocked him back against the wall.  Almost immediately, something hit against him, forcing the air from his lungs.  Automatically, Lotor’s arms wrapped around what had hit him as the elevator jolted and shifted again.  

“What the cheese?” 

Lance’s voice was muffled, but that was probably because he was pressed against Lotor’s chest.  Lotor’s eyes widened, and he immediately let go of Lance, giving the other the option to pull away if he wanted. 

The elevator shifted a third time, this time with a loud grinding screech, and Lotor’s arms once again went around Lance to help brace themselves. 

“I think it’s done.”  Lotor muttered, once more letting go of Lance. 

“That’s the second time this elevator’s done this.  This is ridiculous!”  Lance spring away from Lotor and used the momentum to spin around on his heel away from Lotor.  As he moved, Lotor noticed his face was bright red… almost like Lance had been… blushing?

No.  No, it was probably a trick of the light.  Even if Lance was blushing, it was probably out of embarrassment. 

“Man, this sucks!”  Lance pouted, and Lotor sighed. 

“You said this is the second time it’s happened?” 

“Yeah, the first time it was with Keith and me.  We were going to the pool, and Coran diverted power away without first checking.” 

“That was inconsiderate of him.”  Lotor crossed his arms.  The lift didn’t seem

“It was inconsiderate of your father to make us Wormhole so much our teludav broke, which forced Coran to do that in the first place.”

“Mmm, I suppose that’s just a hazard of using a teludav over a hyperdrive. Additionally, given the age of the ship itself, I’m surprised these types of occurrences do not occur more often.”  Lance spun back around to give Lotor a flat look, and Lotor shrugged.  He stood by what he said. 

“I’m taking that as a compliment to the ship’s design and Coran.”  Lance declared after a few ticks. 

Lotor rolled his eyes, but smiled fondly. 

Of course, Lance would take his words as a compliment.  That was just what Lance did. 

He saw the best in people, and while it was perhaps a bit naïve, it was endearing.  If the whole universe would just look at people the way Lance did… well, everything wouldn’t be perfect, but it’d sure be a whole lot better than it was. 

Lance sighed, and looked up to the emergency hatch on the ceiling.  “Last time, Keith and I scaled up the elevator shaft.” 

“A dangerous solution.”  Lotor said.  “We have nowhere else to be right now, and I have no desires to risk falling to my death.”  Or to risk Lance falling to his death, and then the Team – because Lotor was sure that by now, everyone, except Lance, knew about his illness – blaming him. 

Lance exhales too sharply to be sigh, and crossed his arms, leaning against the wall across from Lotor’s.  “So, what?  We just wait and see if someone comes saves us?”  

The edges of Lotor’s lips uplifted into a small smile that he couldn’t help.  Lance just sounded so put off by the idea, and it was… cute.  It would have been cuter, however, if it didn’t carry with it the implication that Lance didn’t want to spend time with Lotor. 

Or perhaps he wanted to be back to back with Lotor, climbing up to their deaths.  No, that was presumably just wishful thinking.  Except for the death part.  Lotor did not want that. 

“What?  I thought you liked spending time with me.”  Lotor teased. 

Lance’s eyes snapped wide open, and his cheeks once again darkened to that pretty blush.  “I do!”  Lance shouted before he coughed and looked away, uncrossing his arms to rub at the back of his head.  “I mean… I do like spending time with you.”

Warmth blossomed through Lotor at the admission, and his smile grew.  “I enjoy spending time with you as well.”  Lotor admitted. 

“Really?  I thought you were… I don’t know...”  Lance lowered his hands, and gaze until he was looking at his hands.  Lotor’s smile fell as concern replaced the bubbling happiness he’d just been feeling. 

“What?” 

“Tolerating me?  Like, I don’t know… I know I’m loud and annoying, and… I’m being stupid.” 

Lotor was speechless.  What had happened to Lance that would make him ever feel this way?  He would have said something had Lance not continued. 

“And I know I must be really annoying to you, but I can’t help it.  Like, I’ve always been more annoying to people I like, and quiznak, now you know I like you, and I mean…”

Normally Lotor didn’t like to interrupt someone.  There might be valuable information that would be lost due to an interruption, but in this case, he couldn’t help himself.  He needed to be sure that he wasn’t hearing things.  “You like me?”

Lance fell quiet, still looking down.  “Well, yeah.  I thought it was kinda obvious.”  He muttered after a couple ticks.  “I mean, that’s why Hunk recommended the whole fake dating thing, and that’s why Shiro sent us on stupid missions or paired us up at the marketplace and mall.  It was nice to pretend, but... I mean, then you ran from the room with the whole fake-date suggestion, and I just figured you were being nice to me afterwards and…” 

Lotor didn’t let Lance finish, crossing the distance between them in one step and cupping Lance’s chin to tilt his head up, and perhaps it was rude of Lotor kiss Lance without permission, but it was the easiest and quickest way to both silence Lance and show him how Lotor felt. 

The kiss was perfect in the fact that it was the farthest thing from perfect that Lotor had ever experienced.  The angle between them was awkward, and Lotor could already feel his upper neck protesting how he was leaning down to kiss Lance, and their noses were smashed against each other’s. 

Lance made a noise, but then suddenly he was pressing up against Lotor, his hands were around Lotor’s neck and upper shoulders, and Lance tilted his head; and suddenly everything went from imperfectly perfect to perfectly perfect. 

Which wouldn’t have made sense to anyone else, but it made sense to Lotor. And from the way Lance was kissing him back, Lotor was sure it made sense to him too. 

Lance broke the kiss, and Lotor rested his forehead against Lance’s.  He smiled as Lance laughed.  “We’re idiots.”  Lance muttered.

“Just a bit.”  Lotor agreed.

He could feel the petals from that quiznaked plant in his throat, but he didn’t care.  Quiznak the flower.  He could care less for it right now, because Lance _liked_ him.  Lance _liked_ him, and while that wasn’t _love_ , it was a start that Lotor would take. 

Lance’s returned affection wouldn’t kill the Juniberry instantly.  Lotor didn’t expect it to, but Lance just returning the kiss made Lotor suddenly a lot more optimist about his chances of surviving now.  There were other things for them to work out, like Lance’s self-esteem, but if Lotor had his way, they’d have forever to work out their relationship. 

If Lance wanted that.  He hoped Lance wanted that.  He was sure Lance wanted that.  But there was no harm in being sure.  “So, no fake-dating for the Coalition?”  He asked.

“Nah.”  Lance replied.  “I’d rather real-date, if that’s okay with you?” 

Lotor didn’t bother with a verbal reply, instead answering with a kiss.  

 

**Author's Note:**

> If you guys need to know who's saying what with the conversation between Pidge, Shiro, and Hunk, let me know. :)


End file.
